title: Monitoring mercury in green sea turtles using keratinized carapace fragments (scutes).
abstract: The green sea turtles are facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild and the impacts of heavy metals contamination contributes with the decline of their populations. It is very important to assess noninvasive and nonlethal methods for monitoring Hg contamination in sea turtles. Thus, Hg concentrations were measured in keratinized fragments (scutes) and internal tissues of green sea turtles from the Ceará coast to test the usefulness of scutes as a monitoring subject for sea turtles. A significantly positive correlation was found between Hg concentrations in muscle and scutes, which demonstrate that scutes can be used as a predictive matrix of Hg concentration in muscle tissue of green sea turtles.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biogeoquímica Costeira, Instituto de Ciências do Mar, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Av. Abolição 3207, Fortaleza, CE 60165-081, Brazil. Electronic address: mmoisesfb@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bezerra
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Lacerda
authors.forename: E H S M
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: M T D
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Melo
mesh_terms: D060105:Animal Shells / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D007633:Keratins / Q000737:chemistry; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D014426:Turtles / Q000378:metabolism*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D007633:Keratins; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Chelonia mydas; Mercury; Pollution; Scutes